Citadel
by Vandoodle
Summary: Shepard's clone gets the drop on him in the citadel dlc. This story shows his crews reaction upon learning of the deception
1. Chapter 1

First blood

Commander Shepard hated the citadel. The station was a slap in the face reminding him that the reapers had manipulated the entire galaxy so effortlessly, predicting their every move countless times over.

That being said the view from Anderson's penthouse apartment was stunning and Shepard was more than willing to enjoy it. Not that he had much time to enjoy it as his shore leave would only last as long as it took the fleets to mobilize, but it would be more than enough time to enjoy himself and catch up with the rest of the crew. Shepard smiled as he thought of his squad, more like family than anything else how else could he describe Grunt's antics with a grin to Garrus, or feeling such pride for Jack after he had run into her at Grissom Academy and seen how she had matured, no longer the arrogant and slightly damaged psychopath, but a teacher and mentor to her students.

The sound of his omnitool going off shook Shepard out of his revelry. He quickly glanced at the name displayed on it before answering. "Shepard, what can I do for you Brooks?" In their first meeting the Alliance techie had not exactly been a bearer of good news, however considering recent events the fact that someone had attempted to hack his personal account was a fairly low priority.

Brooks' chipper voice sounded over the com, "Commander, I've got good news, I believe we've figured out who has been trying to hack your account but this isn't exactly information I'm comfortable sharing over a com channel."

Shepard frowned, "Brooks I can assure you this is a secure line."

"Commander, trust me this is news I have to give face to face."

Shepard sighed "Fine, I'm at Tiberius Towers, com me again when you need clearance."

"Yes sir." Came the firm reply.

Shepard slowly walked over to the bar and poured himself the most expensive scotch Anderson had, which he sipped tentatively, as he waited for Brooks to page him.

Sure enough half an hour later his omnitool lit up with a request from Maya Brooks asking permission to pass through the tower's security. Shepard swallowed the rest of the drink before reluctantly clicking the "yes" icon. Placing down his glass down, Shepard made his way into the bed room and went to the dresser opening the top drawer and retrieved the M-6 Carnifex hand cannon he had stored there earlier. After quickly inspecting the thermal clip he made his way back to the kitchen and waited for the knock on the door.

"Security show Maya Brooks."

"Apologies, Shepard" The dull voice of the VI droned "but we are experiencing a problem with our system please try again later."

"Bull shit," Shepard murmured now on red alert. Just then there was a knock on the door.

Shepard made his way to the left side of the door then carefully grabbed the handle. Shepard took a deep breath then swung the door open raising the pistol as he did so. Then froze as his own face stared back at him from the door way.

Shepard's mouth opened in shock "What the fuck..."

He was cut off from saying anything more as a shot rang out. Time slowed as he fell backwards, the pain caused him to instinctively let go of his gun. He hit the ground in a heap, blood pouring out of the wound. He lay there gasping as his attacker, an exact copy of himself, walked into the apartment followed closely by Brooks, the exotic woman strutted proudly, clearly pleased with herself. Shepard desperately pawed at the wound on his abdomen trying to slow the blood as pooled to the floor. The pain was unbearable the worst he'd ever felt.

"Don't bother." Brooks said coldly "That was a shredder round, we thought you might be wearing armour and we weren't about to take any chances. That round put a hole about the size of golf ball in you and tore out the other side as well. Overkill, but Cerberus has learned not to take any chances with you commander. You should take it as a compliment"

Shepard ignored her and focussed on his twin "Who the hell is he?" he demanded hoarsely nodding towards his doppelganger.

Brooks laughed "That's Commander Shepard."

"Fuck you." Shepard gasped fighting against the crippling pain.

"I was made as a back-up in case project Lazarus failed, an exact copy of Commander Shepard but when Lazarus was successful, I was thrown away only to be used as spare parts until Brooks found me." The doppelganger said emotionlessly and kneeled down bringing his head down right to Shepard's "But now I am Shepard."

"You're a clone." Shepard said his voice barely a whisper, his vision tinged with black.

"And you're not?" The clone said smiling "I'm everything you are, except I know where my loyalties lie."

Shepard struggled to sit up glaring at the two people who he now knew would be his killers. "You won't get away with it, they'll stop you."

The clone laughed "Who you're crew? They'll never have a reason to doubt that I am Shepard."

"Miranda-" Shepard's voice gave out as a coughing fit came over him. Blood sprayed out of his mouth and his head fell back to the ground.  
The clone smiled "Don't worry Shepard I'll take good care of your girl, and if she doesn't recognize me I'll even keep her around."

Shepard felt the world spin and he knew what would be coming next, he'd died once before after all but he didn't want to let go. They were so close to winning, the crucible was almost ready, the galaxy was united. But all he wanted was to see his friends before he died, warn them about the imposter, his killer. However, it was too late already his vision was going dark.

The clone watched as Shepard drew his last struggling breaths and his eyes darted every which way before latching onto him. Shepard's eyes were full of desperation, hate and something like resignation but not fear, no whatever the commander was feeling in his last moments he wasn't afraid. The clone tried to look away but found he couldn't break the gaze of the dying man. He was drawn into Shepard's eyes and he watched as the light finally left.

There was a minute of silence before he turned to Brooks "What now?"

She smiled "We hide the body here and then you will go back to your ship, commander."

Wrex

Urdnot Wrex, chief of clan Urdnot looked at the ship docked in the port with a fondness, and while it was not his ship it was close enough to make him feel nostalgic. Yes the SR-2 Normandy was a good ship but it wasn't his ship. The ship he had followed Shepard on had been destroyed and Shepard had been killed.

"Beautiful isn't she?" The turian beside him remarked.

Wrex grunted "Maybe, but she's not the Normandy."

"Come on Wrex, she has a thanix cannon." Garrus said pleadingly "Do you have any idea what it can do?"

"Not the ship I was on with Shepard, and that's all that matters." Wrex stated with finality.

Garrus sighed "Fine."

There was a silence as neither really wanted to ask the question on both of their minds. Garrus however was the first to break "How's Tuchunka holding up."

Wrex barked out a laugh "We're kicking the reaper's ground troops off the rock well enough, but any ships show up… and well small arms can only do so much."

Garrus nodded sagely.

Wrex continued "But you're with Shepard, saving the galaxy." Wrex was surprised when Garrus visibly winced. "Garrus?" he asked confused.

Garrus's mandibles opened and closed in something akin to pain, "Wrex, Shepard has been acting strange. And not in the normal Shepard strange way either." He added as wrex went to interrupt him. "He's colder and has been behaving pro-human, almost like Cerberus."

"War changes people, and Shepard's seen his fair share of war."

Garrus shook his head the pained expression still on his face "Also there's some things that I'll say that he won't remember happening."

At that Wrex froze, this sounded very similar to something he had firsthand experience with. "Indoctrination? He asked fearing the answer.

Garrus shook his head "No, trust me this is something different but spirits damn me if I know what it is."

"Good."


	2. Urdnot Wrex

_Author's note:_

 _Thanks for everyone who gave my story a chance. This is actually my first story (yes, I know everyone say that but this time its true.) I also changed the ending of chapter 1 fyi._

 _I hope you enjoy and feel free to drop a review, especially if you see mistakes, as I am basically using this to keep up my writing up during the summer, before I go back to school at the end of August. I want to apologize for the long break between the last chapter as I switched computers only to find my brand new $750 "gaming" PC was actually a piece of crap that crashed while running civ 5 (I am a little salty about that.) but now I have a decent little laptop so problem solved._

 _PS as sci-fi fans you guys should go and check out the new star trek movie, which was excellent and my personal favourite in the new series. Also it tragically will be the last time you see Anton Yelchin who died in July due to a fault in his car's gear shift._

"Shepard!" Urdnot Wrex bellowed as he made his way to his friend, pushing aside the C-Sec officer who got in his way. "Its been too long." He said as embraced him in a hug. Frowning as the human pulled away quickly.

"Its good to see you to, Wrex." Shepard said with a smile on his face. "How have you been?"

Wrex broke out in a grin "I've been good, Shepard, the Reapers are worthy opponents, but they're no match for a krogan."

"How are you really?" Shepard asked eyebrow raised.

Wrex's grin left his face "Not good, the Reaper landed on Tuchunka a week ago. We're holding but I'm losing my warriors by the krannt. If we just had a few years to breed before they hit, it wouldn't be a problem but right now we're stretched Shepard, even with almost all the krogan rallying behind clan Urdnot."

Shepard nodded "I know what you mean, the Alliance is wasting too many resources going after Cerberus, that we're having problems holding a united front against the Reapers."

"Cerberus attacked the citadel and almost killed the galaxies' leaders." Wrex pointed out. "They're too dangerous to let them live."

"They're still human."

Wrex froze Shepard had never cared that his enemies were human before. In fact, it was why Shepard hated Cerberus so much in the first place as he had felt that they had betrayed humanity with their isolationist views and hate. "Shepard these are the pijaks that set your squad up at Akuze, they murdered a fleet admiral, and tried to blow up the migrant fleet. They need to be put down. Wrex growled.

Shepard raised his voice. "I'm not saying that what Cerberus did was right, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm killing my people every time we fight them."

"Shepard," Wrex growled menacingly "Those soldiers are not your people. They're slaves to the Elusive Man. Is that what you want for them?"

Shepard frowned "I guess not."

For the second time Wrex froze. Those words were something Shepard had said to him a very long time ago on Vermire. They had snapped Wrex out of his foolish tirade against the commander and he had taken them to heart. Shepard should have known the too but the way he was acting made Wrex believe that this was the first time Shepard was hearing them. "I have something I need to do." Wrex said weakly turning to leave.

"Where you going Wrex?" Shepard called out as he left.

"Purgatory." Wrex grumbled back "I need something to drink." And someone to talk to he thought.

The clone watched the krogan leave frowning. He had made a mistake. The Cerberus remark had tipped the giant lizard that something was off. However, the rest of the crew had limited interactions with the krogan but still, something needed to be done. Quickly, dialed Brooks' number "I need you take care of Urdnot Wrex."

Wrex smiled as he approached Purgatory, hoping alcohol would make his conversation with Shepard make sense. As he came closer he became aware that he was being tailed, two humans were following him, trying to act casual but their stench of fear and anticipation were rancid. Wrex smile grew larger a good fight was always welcome, until he realized there were four more of them making their way towards him. Six on one were tall odds even for him and these weren't everyday thugs. Wrex thought quickly, coming up with a plan as neared the group coming towards him.

As they came within twenty feet Wrex leapt into action throwing a shockwave at the humans infront of him sending them flying in every which direction. Their shouts of surprise filled Wrex's ears as he turned drawing his shotgun on his two pursuers. One reached for his gun while the other dove behind the pillar beside. Wrex's claymore blew the first assailant back shattering his shields and sparying blood everywhere. Not stopping Wrex charged the second thug his shield deflecting the shots that were fired at him. He smashed into his opponent sending him to the ground before finishing him off with a second shotgun blast. Staying in cover he leaned out to see that his original targets had gotten back up and where now firmly entrenched in their own cover. Wrex quickly ejected his thermal clip smiling. Four to one these were odds he could deal with. Roaring in rage Wrex charged from behind his pillar firing his shot gun at his first enemy's exposed head blowing it apart. Wrex didn't slow down as he turned his fire onto the next target catching him as he ducked back into cover and was rewarded with a meaty thump as he fell to the floor. His shields reading only at half he ducked back in cover as the last two humans continued to fire at him. Now Wrex had them dead to rights, as their small pistols were no match for the unstoppable force that was the krogan. Once again Wrex charged towards his closest opponent. However, his new opponent ducked back in cover while his ally fired at Wrex. Wrex shrugged off the incoming rounds like they were nothing and turned the corner grabbed the man, ignoring his pathetic struggle and smashed his head into the pillar. Relishing the primal feeling he turned, preparing to deal with his last attacker until a beeping brought his attention to the floor. Wrex's eyes widened as he saw the grenade that had been dropped by the dead man. In desperation he hurled himself away from the device. The explosion threw him five feet into the air and he came crashing down. Wrex groaned and fought through the haze trying to get his bearings as the world spun. He saw his attacker leave his cover and approach him. Wrex drunkenly tried to stand only to fall back down. His attacker was only a few feet away and aimed his gun at Wrex's head. Wrex stared at the man not willing to look away from his killer, watching as he smiled and his finger tightened around the trigger. A shot rang out and Wrex's would be killer's head exploded. Wrex turned towards sound of the shot and smiled as he recognised his savior. "Chief Williams," he greeted "Good to see you."

The black haired woman smiled lowering the assault rifle. "Wrex, it's been too long but its lieutenant now."

Wrex pulled himself up "We need to move."

Ashley nodded.

It was only when they were in the presidium did they speak again. "So who the hell were they?" Ashley asked.

Wrex shrugged, "No idea."

"How about who sent them?" Ashley asked.

Wrex was silent he knew who sent the killers after him he just couldn't believe it. "Wrex?" Ashley asked again

"Shepard." Wrex said.

"What about Shepard?" Ashley asked confused.

"He sent them."

Ashley laughed "Wrex don't be ridiculous. Shepard would never betray any of us. Hell Wrex, he even cured the genophage."

Wrex shook his head "I know it doesn't make any sense Williams, but Shepard was the only one who knew I was going to purgatory." He said pointing at her "And they knew I was coming, so how do you explain that?"

Ashley shook her head "I can't, Wrex, but this is Shepard we're talking about."

"You think I don't know that?" Wrex roared "He is like a brother to me but I know he's behind this Williams."

Ashley was startled by the krogan's angry reaction and unconsciously gripped her rifle tighter. "Okay Wrex say you're right, what possible reason does Shepard have to go against you like this?"

Wrex looked Ashley in the eye, "Williams you were with Shepard on Virmire do you remember our little chat on the beach?"

"The one where you and the commander nearly blew each other's head off?"

Wrex nodded "Yeah that one. Well, Shepard gave me a nice little speech about how my people were being used by Saren and were no better than slaves. Earlier today I threw his words back in his face after he was talking about Cerberus and didn't even remember it."

Ashley nodded "That was a good speech, even for Shepard."

Wrex frowned "How the hell do you know about it?" he asked.

Ashley blushed "I may have been in the bush waiting the commander's signal to put a bullet between your eyes." She admitted reluctantly.

Wrex brushed aside the comment "Doesn't matter now. But was does matter is if Shepard has been acting different recently?"

Ashley frowned concern marking her features "Now that you mention it he has been more reluctant to target Cerberus installations recently."

Wrex nodded thinking back to his last conversation with Shepard. "He sounded almost pro Cerberus last time I talked to him."

"Okay then Wrex what's the plan." Ashley asked

Wrex paused, what was his plan? He needed to prove that his best friend and the most important person in the entire galaxy was a traitor. "We need evidence." He stated frowning at how obvious it sounded.

Ashley raised an eyebrow "Okay, is there a second step to this plan?" She asked "Like where we should start."

Wrex shrugged, glaring at her smile. "Do you have a better idea?"

"No, but I have a step two."

"What is it?"

"Shepard has a penthouse apartment in Tiberius Towers. As far as I know none of the crew have been invited there. If he's hiding anything its there."

Tiberius Towers

"How do you plan on getting by the security?" Wrex asked fingering the shotgun in his holster.

Ashley smiled "I'm a SPECTRE now, remember?" she said as she passed them through security.

When they reached the penthouse Ashley frowned at the security panel. "Custom stuff I can't get in."

"Move back from the door Williams." Wrex ordered as he prepared to charge.

Wrex smashed through the door as if it were paper and not a slab of steel. Ashley followed closely behind him and whistled at the apartment as the lights flashed on. "Wow, you can't fault the commander on his taste."

Wrex however was staring at the stain on the floor. Ashley followed his gaze to the dark patch "Is that blood?" She asked.

Wrex nodded "Yeah smells like Shepard's to." Before moving on. "I'll take the bedroom."

Ashley nodded and Wrex made his way to Shepard's bedroom. It was simple to say the least a bed and dresser but no other furniture decorated the room. However, Wrex heard a strange hum coming from the bathroom. He made his way to the door and opened it. Inside there was a strange tube with a familiar man staring back at him. No. Wrex thought as he forced himself to get closer. No. Inside the tube staring back at him with sightless eyes was Shepard. Wrex placed his hand against the glass staring in disbelief at his friend. Taking everything in until he saw the gaping hole in his chest.

Wrex roared in rage "No!" and punched the glass. "Shepard!" he shouted as he punched the glass again, this time cracks formed where he hit. Wrex roared again not caring who heard him, he just knew he had to get his friend out of that damned cage. With each bash against the glass the cracks grew bigger until finally it blew apart and Wrex was covered in the green liquid that Shepard was encased in. Wrex caught Shepard as he fell out of the tube and place him on his back.

"Wrex." Ashley called as she appeared in the door way weapon raised. "Everything okay in here?" She froze as she saw the giant krogan on the floor with something, no someone in his lap. Someone who it couldn't be. "No." she gasped weakly falling to the ground beside Wrex. Who looked up at her. In any other circumstance Ashley would be shocked to see tears rolling down her friend's eyes.

They sat there together for ten minutes trying to hold back the tears brought on by their fallen friend. Finally, Wrex pulled himself together "I promise you Shepard I will kill him."

Ashley still sobbing looked up at Wrex. "What do we do?"

Wrex stood up and unholstered his shotgun "We go back to the Normandy and we kill the imposter."

"What about him."

Wrex paused looking at the man he called brother "We leave him, come back when he is avenged and give him a proper burial."

"We can't just leave him." Ashley protested.

"We have to, every second we waste is another that the clone can escape in."

Ashley shook her head "I'll stay with him, you go."

"I can't do this alone, Williams." Wrex said softly as deep voice could manage, "The imposter is onto me but not you. If you want to help Shepard, then help me catch his murderer."

Ashley stared at Shepard's face and nodded "Promise me Wrex that we get this son of a bitch."

"I swear it." Wrex replied harshly "I swear on Shepard's memory that we will avenge him."

Ashley planted a kiss on Shepard's forehead and gently closed his eyes. "I'm sorry skipper." she said and quickly fled the room.

Wrex watched her leave and knelt down and examined the wound. Far enough from anything vital it was clear Shepard had bled out slowly, and that his opponent had not given him a quick death. "Shepard," Wrex trailed off as his voice broke "Brother…" but Wrex couldn't finish the send off. Turning he also wrenched himself away from the scene following Ashley out.

Ashley watched Wrex out of the corner of her eye his rage practically came off him in waves drowning even her hatred of Shepard's killer. "Wrex." She asked tentatively.

"Yes."

"Do you think it was quick?"

Wrex paused almost wanted to tell her that Shepard died in an instant, that he couldn't have known what hit him but he knew that she would find out eventually. "No." He replied gruffly anger filling his voice. "Whoever killed him let him bleed out instead of putting him out quickly."

Ashley's eyes teared up again "I thought so."

Wrex turned to her and met her eyes, "And the imposter won't die quickly either, that I promise you."

Normandy docking bay

Garrus watched as the ground crew finished the final preparations for launch. Shepard wanted to leave as soon as possible. Shepard had told him that part of that was because he had had a serious argument with Wrex and wanted to leave to let heads cool.

"Garrus, we almost ready to leave?" Shepard asked impatiently.

Garrus turned smiling "Why Commander, are you really so eager to escape this lover's spat of yours?" he asked sardonically.

Shepard rolled his eyes, "Garrus you have no idea how pissed Wrex is."

"What the hell did you say to him?" Garrus asked curious.

"We may have had a sight disagreement about krogan expansion after the war." Shepard explained easily waving it away.

Garrus tilted his head to one side, "Really?" he asked "That's the whole story?"

Shepard scratched the back of his head nervously, "I may have implied that curing the genophage was a mistake…"

Garrus groaned, there was little that Wrex cared about more than his people, "Shepard that was stupid even for."

Shepard lifted his hands in mock surrender "I know Garrus, which is why I want off this station as soon as possible." Shepard's eyes widened as he saw a familiar krogan enter the port. "Shit."

Garrus followed Shepard's gaze to see the krogan making his way towards him and felt his own eyes widened. He had never seen Wrex that angry before. Pure rage radiated from the krogan as he marched towards the. Dock workers scattered out of the way of the hulking beast as passed through them.

"Let's head inside Garrus." Shepard said nervously as he practically sprinted to the air lock with Garrus close behind him.

Garrus waited impatiently for the air lock to cycle. Watching nervously as Wrex got closer. By the spirits the glare Wrex had on Shepard gave Garrus the shivers. Finally, the lock opened and Shepard darted in. Only to be met by a fist. Garrus watched in wonder, as Ashley Williams punched Shepard with such force that he heard the commander's nose break and threw him a meter backwards.

"Ashley what are you doing?" Garrus asked only to have the marine brush by him.

Garrus watched as Ashley lifted Shepard up by the Jacket and punched him in the face again sg him flyin. "Williams that's enough." Garrus ordered putting a restraining hand on her shoulder. "What the hell are you doing?" Garrus actually shrunk back when the marine turned her hate filled gaze on him.

However, she was stopped by Wrex's bellow as he picked up Shepard. "I know what you did to Shepard!" Wrex threw him against a pillar. Shepard smashed into it hard and struggled to get up holding his ribs but before he could Wrex had him again.

Shepard struggled against Wrex's hold, "I don't know what you're talking about." He gasped.

Wrex hurled him again this time across the room and Shepard came crashing down. "I made the mistake of trusting you, thinking you were my friend." Wrex shook his head "No more. This ends here with your death."

"Wrex stop." Garrus ordered, he had drawn his weapon, "Calm down."

"He killed Shepard!" Wrex roared turning to the turian, "He murdered Shepard and stole his life, his ship and his crew!"

"What?" Garrus said.

"He kept Shepard's body on display, like some kind of trophy!" Wrex bellowed turning back to the now standing commander who was nursing his wounds.

Shepard turned to Garrus eyes wide "Garrus for fuck's sake help."

"It's true." Ashley said "I saw the body I saw the body Garrus."

"Garrus, you have to listen to me, they're lying Wrex is pissed and Ash has always had it out for me." Shepard begged trying to reason with the turian.

Garrus glanced between his three friends "Okay," he said "If you're Shepard what did you say to Sidonis?" pointing his gun at Shepard.

Shepard's eyes widened "Garrus that was years ago. You can't expect e to remember!"

Garrus manibles clenched "What did you say?" he demanded.

Shepard's eyes darted between the three crew mates and laughed, "Congratulations you got me."

Garrus saw red and pulled the trigger only to have Wrex shove the weapon upwards causing Garrus to miss. "No, Garrus he doesn't get a quick death."

The clone smiled "Why? Because Shepard didn't? Man, you should have heard him beg for his life as he died."

Wrex grabbed the clone and brought him face to face "Shepard would never beg."

"And how would you know?" The clone asked grinning maniacally "You didn't even notice he was gone for months."

Wrex slammed the clone into the wall, breaking several bones. Then Wrex dragged the clone to the glass window and smashed it with his skull shattering it to pieces. Hoisting the clone up Wrex held him outside, several hundreds of stories up. For the first time the clone's face showed fear. "You stole Shepard's life but you won't steal his death. When they find you, you'll be a puddle on ground." Wrex tried to let go but found he couldn't as Shepard's face staring back at him.

The clone smiled "You can't do it can you? Because like it or not I am Shepard and you can't hurt me."

"No," Wrex growled "You may look like Shepard but you aren't Shepard."

The clone's scream echoed as he fell to the ground below.

Wrex turned to the two other crew members. Their faces set in stone. "You did the right thing." Ashley said.

"I know." Wrex said turning away from the open window.


	3. Mordin Solus

_Author's note:_

 _This kind of screws up the timeline but the premise still works and that's the important thing. Thanks have a good day._

Mordin

Mordin Solus typed worked frantically at the console. He felt his heart fell as he read the readings, at temperature malfunction, manual override would be required. Resigned Mordin gazed up at the Shroud. Unstable, survival unlikely, he thought turning back to his work making his final preparations. A noise caused him to turn and smiled as he saw the commander approach him. If there was anyone he wanted to talk to before he died it was Shepard.

"Mordin," Shepard asked, "Is the cure ready?"

"Yes. Loaded for dispersal in two minutes. Procedure traumatic for Eve but not lethal. Maelon's research invaluable."

"She's okay?" Shepard asked.

"Headed to safety now. Her survival fortunate. Will stabilize new government should Wrex get any ideas." Mordin replied as he made a final touch on his notes before shutting down his console. "Good match, promising future for krogan."

A large piece of debris fell from the tower smashing to the ground.

"Damn," Shepard shouted surprised but Mordin only glanced at the wreckage. It posed no danger to them.

Mordin finished the last of his notes. "Control room on top of Shroud tower. Must take elevator up." He said, gesturing to the elevator.

"You're going up there?" Shepard asked incredulously gazing up at the damaged tower, explosions clearly going off.

Mordin nodded "Yes, readings at lab indicate temperature malfunction. Could affect cure viability. Need to adjust settings manually."

"It's too dangerous Mordin we need to get out of here." Shepard protested, trying to reason with the salarian.

Mordin shook his head "No, temperature variations could destroy cure. Have to go up."

Shepard's voice lowered dangerously, "Mordin, you're not going up."

Mordin paused only for a second as he put together the picture. "Not concerned about my safety. Concerned I might discover something. Sabotage? But whose? Ahhh…."

Mordin turned glaring at Shepard, "Why, Shepard? Every time we spoke about the genophage you said the krogan deserved a cure. A second chance. How could you change your mind?"

Mordin's mind was racing. _This didn't make any sense. Shepard would never abandon the krogan even for salarian support._

"I made a mistake." Shepard shouted, "The krogan are too dangerous, too hard to control."

 _Too hard to control?_ Mordin thought, _that sounded like Cerberus not Shepard._

"Mordin, you know I'm right." Shepard said "Hell, Mordin, I had to convince you in the first place to begin work on the cure."

Mordin wasn't listening to Shepard any more. He was thinking intently, going over every detail since he had met the commander at the STG base. Shepard's behaviour had changed after their last shore leave. At the time Mordin had brushed it off, believing it merely to be the war taking its toll on the commander. But now…

Mordin stepped back from the commander his blood boiling and drew his weapon, "Who are you?" he demanded.

Surprise showed itself on the clone's features, "Mordin, you know who I am." He insisted.

Mordin shook his head, "No, data doesn't add up. Behavioral differences, radical ideology differences, forgotten events. Doesn't make sense. Unless you aren't who you appear to be."

The clone raised his hands slowly, "You think I'm indoctrinated?" He asked trying to throw Mordin off the scent.

"No, secondary symptoms not present." Mordin said raising his voice, "Who are you?" he repeated.

There was a moment of silence only broken by another explosion from the shroud. Then the clone smiled. "I'm a clone, a by product of the Lazarus project. I was used to give the scientists the experience they needed to continue and also when they were done I became an organ donor. In case anything happened to Shepard, I would give him what he needed."

"Understandable, but unethical." Mordin stated, "Never would condone such practices."

The clone continued "But when Shepard broke ties from Cerberus, The Illusive Man had the perfect way to solve his problem. We took care of Shepard and the I took his place.

"Where's Shepard?" Mordin demanded his hand shaking with rage.

"In his apartment. He is now what I was to him. Spare parts."

Hope flooded through Mordin, perhaps they had kept Shepard alive then. "Is he alive? No, too many variables. Better to be certain, kill him."

"Exactly." The clone said his smile increasing "I'll admit though it feels good to confess."

"Not confessing. Boasting, mocking." Mordin corrected, "No guilt, merely satisfaction."

"I'm impressed, Mordin. I didn't think anybody would figure it out at this point."

Mrdin glared at the man who had killed one of his closest friends and had even stolen his life. The hate Mordin felt was like nothing he had ever felt before. Even Maelon's betrayal hadn't hurt have this much. "Had to be me. Someone else might've gotten it wrong." Mordin pulled the trigger but the clone was already moving, diving behind the monitor and drawing his own weapon.

Mordin knelt behind the desk he had been standing by, desperately trying to get a shot at the imposter.

"What's it going to be Mordin?" The clone shouted, "Killing me, or saving the krogan race. You only have time for one."

He was right Mordin realized he had to make a decision. Growling he turned from the commander and stepped onto the elevator. Immediately, it sped upwards.

"Need to warn others. Avenge Shepard." Mordin said speaking to himself. Bringing up his omnitool keying Wrex's contact. Mordin watched in horror as nothing occurred. "Signal from Shroud or the Reaper interfering."

Mordin's mind went into back into overdrive thinking desperately. Then it hit him his omnitool was still linked to the Shroud's internal system. He could still edit his notes.

Quickly, Mordin opened the program and wrote his warning. Just as he finished the doors opened. Several fires had started but they didn't deter Mordin as he made his way to the console. The corrections were simple. STG, it appeared, had merely hoped that no one would discover the sabotage. It was sloppy work. Mordin mused.

A single tear fell down Mordin's cheek as he heard the Vi confirmed the correction, "Sorry, Shepard." He said quietly, before an explosion tore through the control room.

The clone gazed up at the tower. Mordin had apparently managed to fix the sabotage, saving the krogan race. The clone frowned, the krogan could be a problem for human supremacy in the future, but at least his secret had died with the salarian.

 _SSV Everest_

Admiral Hackett was in command of the largest and most powerful fleet ever assembled by the Alliance. It was also, ironically, hopelessly out classed by their enemies. The Reapers had decimated everything they had thrown at them. As a result, the Alliance's precious dreadnoughts would be sitting on the bench until the final push. A push Hackett hoped would occur in a month.

"Admiral Hackett to med-bay. Admiral Hackett to med-bay." The detached voice of a VI droned.

Sighing Hackett began the lengthy walk from his quarters to the med-bay. As he exited his cabin the two fully armoured marine guards who had been stationed there fell in behind him. They were a precaution against both Cerberus assassins and indoctrinated agents.

When Hackett finally reached the med-bay he found Dr. Richards sweating nervously. The man was forty-seven and had served with Hackett for the last ten years.

"Doctor." Hackett greeted taking in the man's distraught appearance.

"Admiral Hackett," the man greeted nervously, "This something I need to talk to in private."

Hackett gestured to the door. The two marines saluted and marched out. "What's wrong doctor?" Hackett asked concerned

"What do you know about Mordin Solus?"

Hackett knew quite a bit actually, when he heard that Shepard was working with Cerberus and putting together a new team. Hackett had ordered Alliance intelligence to give him the dossiers on all of Shepard's crew. "Salarian doctor ex STG. Exemplary service record, fought with Shepard against the collector's and went back to STG after the alpha relay incident."

"But do you trust him?

Hackett shrugged "Never met the man personally but if Shepard trusts him that's good enough for me. Why are you asking."

Richards passed Hackett the data pad on the table. "I was reading over his notes on the genophage cure and I found this passage. I've highlighted it for you."

Hackett took the data pad and read it.

This is Mordin Solus, Commander Shepard has been replaced by a Cerberus clone. The clone in question has been working against our goals and must be stopped. The real Shepard's body is being kept in the Tiberius Towers penthouse.

If you are able to recover the body I request that you give Shepard the rest he deserves.

Hackett reread it not believing it, before looking back at the doctor. "This stays between us doctor. Do you understand?"

Richards nodded, "Do you think its true?" he asked.

"I don't know but I hope to God it isn't." Hackett shook his head, "Excuse me doctor, I need to make some calls."

Hackett went immediately to the QEC his marine escort following close behind. The officers saluted smartly. "Get me the citadel." He ordered.

Jondum Bau frowned at the notification from the asari councillor Tevos. As if he didn't have enough on his plate already. "Bau." He answered curtly.

"Spectre Bau, I have a priority request from Admiral Hackett to speak with you." Tevos said.

Jondum frowned as far as he knew he had never interacted with the Alliance Admiral. "Why?" he asked slightly confused.

"I don't know," Tevos replied crisply, "All he said was that he needed to speak with a spectre on the Citadel, but he declined to mention why."

"I'll speak with him in a minute." Jondum replied shutting down the link. He quickly made his way to the spectre QEC.

As he stepped into the ring the hologram human admiral appeared in front of him.

"Spectre Bau, what I'm about to ask you to do must stay between us. Not even the council can know of this." Hacket said crossing his arms stoically.

"Admiral, I must inform you that I am responsible for the safety of council space if this information compromises that safety I will be forced to warn the council."

Hackett waved the salarian's words away, "It's nothing like that."

"Then we do not have a problem." Jondom said. "What do you need?"

Hackett stared at Jondum for a moment, "One of my doctors was going over Professor Mordin's genophage notes when he came over this passage."

Hackett's form disappeared and Mordin's warning appeared in his stead. Jondum's eyes widened as he read the document fully understanding the consequences. Another second and Hackett's image reappeared. "As you understand the implications of this warning are dire."

That was an understatement Jondum thought, Shepard was a war hero. Not only that, he was also the only reason why so many of the galaxy's races were working together. "What do you want me to do?" he asked.

"As you read, Mordin believed that Shepard's corpse was being kept in Tiberius Towers. I need you to get in there and out without alerting the clone and confirm this."

Jondum nodded "I believe I can assist you Admiral."

"Good, but I need you to promise me that you won't inform the council of this."

"Very well, Admiral."

 _SSV Everest_

Admiral Hackett waited impatiently for the spectre's reply dreading the news that he would bear.

"Incoming call." The communication officer said, "ID reads Spectre Bua."

"Answer it." Hackett ordered stepping into the circle.

Jondum Bau's hologram flickered into life. The salarian looked disgusted and Hackett already knew what he was going to say.

"Admiral, I'm afraid that Shepard is dead." Jondum reported gravely.

"How?" Hackett asked, he had to know, the man was his and Anderson's protégé.

"One shredder round through the lower abdomen." Jondum said.

Hackett winced when Jondum did not elaborate, a wound like that would have taken time to kill Shepard and if his attacker hadn't finished him off… "State of the body?"

Jondum glared, "Very good, they've put it in a storage pod."

At least they would be able to honour the commander, Hackett thought, "Thank you, Spectre Bau." He said before signing off.

Turning to the Com officer he ordered "Get me the Normandy"

 _SSV Normandy_

Today was the day that the Normandy would link back up with the fleet. The whole crew was on edge, eagerly awaiting the Admiral's tour. Ashley Williams was one of the most anxious, as this was the first time she would be meeting with the Admiral face to face. She stood next to Shepard and came to attention as the admiral entered the ship. His escort was bigger than Ashley expected. Instead of the customary two man escort the Admiral had brought ten.

"At ease." Hackett ordered as began making his way down the row of officers before him. Ashley caught her breath as the Admiral passed her but was disappointed as he only gave her a cursory look as he stopped in front of Shepard. Figured, thought Ashley, Shepard always got the attention.

Hackett came to a stop in front of the man wearing Shepard's face. It took all his control to stop the hate he felt from showing. He wanted to call for his men to arrest the bastard immediately but he had to do something first.

Ashley chastised herself on her unkind thought about Shepard he had done more than enough to have earned the Admiral's respect.

Ashley was completely taken by surprise when, Admiral Hackett, the highest ranking officer in the Alliance fleet sucker punched Shepard in the face. She watched in shock as she looked up from Shepard and saw the look of hate and disgust on the Admiral's face.

"Marines arrest this son of a bitch." Hackett ordered glaring down at the stricken commander.

Almost unconsciously Shepard's team stepped in front of the advancing marines.

"Sorry, Admiral," Garrus said glaring back at Hackett "But we can't let you do that."

Hacket turned to the turian "Garrus Vakarian, stand down. That isn't Shepard."

What? Ahsley thought in disbelief.

"What do you mean 'that isn't Shepard,'?" Garrus sputtered.

"Mordin Solus hid this in his notes." Hackett said handing Garrus a datapad from his jacket. "We found the real Shepard's body in his apartment a week ago."

Garrus stared numbly at the datapad not believing what he was reading. If this was true…

Ashley took the pad from Garrus's hands and stared at the commander, "Is it true?" She asked.

The clone knew he was caught, Shepard's body was all the proof they needed and if they had it. He sneered at Ashley "Everyone, always said how close you were. How everyone loved Shepard. Where were you when I put a bullet in his gut? Where were you when he bled out? You didn't even notice he was gone."

Ashley stared dumbstruck at the clone but Garrus didn't. His vision went red and he pounced on the downed clone. His blows were filled with a rage he had never felt before. Each of his blows fell like sledge hammers beating the clone's face in. Dimly he felt the Alliance marines tear him off the clone.

Hackett stared into the cell housing the clone. All the man had done since his return from the med-bay was lay on his cot. Silently Hackett turned to face Shepard's crew.

"What are you going to do with him?" Ashley demanded, staring at the clone.

'For now nothing. Shepard is hero if people learned that he's been dead for months, moral would plummet. And we can't afford that, not when we are so close."

"What about after?" Garrus asked quietly.

"I don't know." Hackett replied, "The Alliance doesn't execute prisoners, but there will be a long list of people after his head."

"If you don't kill him," Garrus said his tone dangerous, "I sure as hell will."

"Like I said, it's a long list." Hackett said.

"And I'm first on that list, Admiral." Garrus growled.

"Regardless." Hackett said "It'll wait until the end of the war." Turning back to stare at the prisoner.


End file.
